Gift
by Kiraeon
Summary: Eight long years of working as assistants has come to an end, and now the time to go their separate was has come. One to stay behind and take over the laboratory, the other to continue her research two cities away. Each leaves behind a little something of herself, but is given something as a reminder in return. One-shot. Giftfic. ScientificShipping.


_This one's for CHAIRLY, because you are fantastic writer and should never ever ever ever ever give up on your OTP ever. I don't know much of anything that happened, only that you were pretty sad and in need of some cheering up. So, here's some adorkably cute ScienceWives for you. Keep writing and keep loving them._

**/\/\/\/\/\**

"W-what is... what's this?" Fennel stammered, at a loss for words as she looked to the sphere in Juniper's hand. Her boxes were packed and in the truck, waiting to move her out of the laboratory in Nuvema- Juniper's lab now- and back to the townhouse in Striaton with Amanita. Eight long years of research, of trial and error on both their ends had culminated into that moment; she'd gotten the grant to fund her research- Amanita supervising the technology aspect of things, of course- and Aurea had finally accomplished what she'd set foot into the lab to do in the first place; take it for her own.

There was that familiar wicked twinkle in Juniper's green eyes, the curve of her lips into a tiny, evil looking smile that made her knees go wobbly and her cheeks burn every time it was aimed in her general direction. _Liepard with a Minccino._ That's what she'd always called the smile and evil glint, and it was about accurate, from Juniper's study results, anyway. "You know what this is, we've only been studying them our entire lives, and more besides." She teased, tossing the red and white ball up and down in her palm. While parting would be such sweet sorrow, as one of Fennel's books often proclaimed, it was a new and necessary beginning for the both of them. Still, she couldn't help but tease the months younger woman just a little.

After all, what was a girlfriend for, if not to tease a little now and then?

As expected, the dark haired girl's cheeks flushed the same pink as the center of her hair clip, her hands fluttering close to her pale throat as she fidgeted with embarrassment. Her index fingers poked at one another in the same shy habit she'd never been able to break. "I know it's a Pokeball, but why...?" Her voice faltered a little, failing to finish the question as a whole, eyes never leaving the bouncing form of the ball as it flew up and back into Aurea's palm.

The ball stopped, green eyes glittering a little. "You didn't expect me to let you go without a gift, did you?" She asked in a deceptively casual voice, watching the color in Fennel's cheeks turn from pink to red. Little minx had left a series of gifts, not the least of which was her favorite pie _and_ cake left on the kitchen counter of the small apartment attached to the lab itself, around the lab and the apartment. As a result, she'd been quite displeased to find that Fennel had beaten her once again at something so simple.

But, then again, she'd always been the better girlfriend in that regard. More housewife-y and domestic on a bad day than Aurea could honestly claim to ever have been on the best in her life.

"I, oh dear," Fennel stammered, clearly more flustered than she'd been initially. Her eyes darted to the waiting truck and back to Juniper's tall, composed form. "Aurea, I don't... I _really_ don't think we have time for-"

One perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose. "For what, exactly?" Her mouth ached to burst into a grin at the obvious panic on that beloved face. Sometimes, she just enjoyed teasing her a little too much. Wasn't hard, really, when your partner practically opened herself up and presented herself with a bow for it. Her arms folded, Pokeball tapping against her inner bicep as she waited. "I'd like to hear what kind of gift you thought I was giving you, Makomo."

Just the sound of that warm, throaty voice flawlessly pronouncing her last name was enough to garner a squeak of protest out of her. It wasn't fair on any level, Fennel bemoaned to herself not for the first time, Aurea had the brains, the beauty _and_ the powerful personality to use at will- and _knew_ she was a sucker for all of that. _This must be revenge for teasing her about her silly television hobby. _ Who would have figured someone so science minded as Juniper enjoying a children's television show? "U-Um, n-not important," she stammered, attempting to gain some level of composure as she shoved her thick hair back over her shoulders. "I didn't expect a gift, no, but, um... thank you... for thinking of me." Maybe she'd think about getting a haircut, it was getting _awful_ long and heavy... and without Aurea there to play with her hair while they fell asleep, it just wouldn't be worth the time and effort to maintain it. _Money for the hair could be money saved towards coming back to Nuvema Town and visiting her._

Juniper held out the ball. "This is for you." Her gaze was clear and unwavering as she waited for the scientist to take it from her. "Hold it tightly- like that- and use your thumb to press the center button." Red light shot forth and a small, hovering shape slowly defined itself with a flash of white light. A small pink Pokemon with a purple floral design on its body blinked its tiny red eyes at the change of scenery. It looked around once, twice, and noticed Fennel with a surprised croon. In an instant, it teleported over to hover anxiously over the crying woman's shoulder, nudging her gently with its small, blunt snout.

"She, I made sure this one was female since your study had better results with female subjects than male ones, is yours to keep. I know you won't likely train her and she won't be much use in battle, but she'll be there for you." _While I can't be._ The unspoken words hovered in the air between them.

Fennel wiped at her eyes, feeling inadequate in comparison because of the amount of time that must have gone into finding the Munna for her. "S-She's beautiful, thank you Aurea." She reached up to stroke the smooth, peach fuzz-like skin of the Psychic type. Munna gave a happy sounding squeal at being called beautiful, rubbing up against the timid scientist in response. "I guess..." Sheepishly, she held out a Pokeball of her own. "I guess you beat me to it, I... I didn't want to leave this one for you to find by accident."

Both eyebrows rose at that. Since when had Fennel gone out and- nevermind, it wasn't important. She accepted it, tossing the ball into the air as most Trainers had the tendency to and caught the empty shell as the white light vanished. A small, large eared Pokemon with gray and white fur was standing there, looking up at her quizzically. "A Minccino?" Surprise was clear on the Professor's pretty face as she looked from the rodent to Fennel's pink face, the woman drying her tears and back to fidgeting in that embarrassed way she found so endearing.

"You mentioned liking them once," _Granted, it's because I remind you of one._ "so... I thought, as a Pokemon Professor and Researcher, you should have one here with you. To be your friend and to show the new trainers who come by that you're to treat them with love and respect." She was babbling, she knew she was babbling. It was a bad habit that always kicked in whenever she was too flustered or too excited about _something_.

Juniper chuckled, watching as the two Pokemon inspected each other, chatting between the two of them as she walked over to take Fennel's hands in her own. "You chose well, I like her already." She leaned forward to brush a kiss against her lady's soft cheek. "We'll be close enough that we can get coffee on the weekends, and I'm sure you won't let me forget to schedule a day off once in a while."

Tears filled the shorter woman's eyes once again and she nodded. "Yes, I know." But it still didn't make leaving any easier. "You'll email me too, right? And call me?"

"Every night." Aurea promised, resting her forehead agaisnt Fennel's. "You can call me too, I don't care what time. Let me know how your research is going, alright? I want to hear about your progress, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help." As soon as some of the trainers were old enough, she'd think about sending the more promising ones her way.

The truck's horn blasted through the moment, thoroughly runing it for anything other than a swift, desperate kiss that lingered for longer than either of them knew it should have. A hand made its way into Fennel's coat, not so subtly stuffing in an envelope for the woman to look over later as she withdrew after one last kiss. "Time to go, Amanita will end up setting off all the alarms in the lab ten seconds apart if you're late." Fennel's younger sister was a child prodigy and rising star in the technology area and very protective of her favorite older sister. As a result, when plans had changed and no one had bothered to let her know about it, the consequences had ranged from down right infuriating to plain obnoxious. "Read the contents if you get bored on the way." She murmured into Fennel's ear, smiling in satisfaction as the small curve turned bright red as a result.

_**/\/\/\/\/\**_

"Ooh _no_," Fennel moaned, mortified beyond all measure at every strip of paper in the densely packed envelope. "I just- _Aurea_, you're _awful_!" Each slip of paper she read was worse than the last. She'd been reading _those_ magazines again, damn her. How was she supposed to hide these? Better yet, _why_ had she been so darn... _Oh my- _how_ does she even get these ideas!?_ There was a strangled sound that had the driver of the moving truck giving her a worried side eye. She'd done it on purpose, there was absolutely no question about that. Read the contents if she got bored on the way- Aurea Juniper had certainly gotten her this time. The mental images that accompanied the description on those little pieces of not innocent paper were enough to turn her as red as Munna's eyes from head to toe.

Something hard lay in the bottom of the envelope. _If this is something dirty too, so help me Aurea I will turn this truck around and-_ do nothing, probably, but the thought of being tough enough to turn right back around and call her on it was enough to make her feel righteously indignant. She froze, staring at the last little bit of something in the envelope... and didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry.

"Ma'am? You alright?" Having watched the woman's face go from flushed, to white, to pink, to scarlet and back through the cycle multiple times, often with some manner of muffled noise escaping from the hand clamped against her mouth, the driver only felt it polite to inquire. If she said she was fine, that'd be all there was to it. As it was, while he waited for the light to turn green, the color still rose high in the woman's round cheeks... but there was a genuine smile despite the tears in her eyes.

"Hm? Oh," she dabbed the corners of her eyes with the back of her coat. "yes, I'm fine. Thank you. She's just silly, that's all." A small, gold pendant with an orange, sun-like symbol in the center stared up at her, hanging on a golden chain. She'd gotten her the set, it'd been a spendy set, as she'd wanted it to be important and valuable... but she'd gotten all eight for her done in the same colors, with the same symbols, as her children's show had shown. Hadn't been hard, Armanita had been a huge fan of the show herself and had helped her find a good place.

_You said you were a fan of this one because it reminded you of me. I'm wearing the pink one for the same reason. ~ A._

That Aurea had parted with one of them, for one, was enough in of itself. But that she'd released her favorite one of the eight was something else all together. The note made her smile as she put the silly little necklace on and fiddled with the Xtransceiver to take a picture of herself wearing it for her beloved to see.

In parting, Juniper had given her courage to pursue her dreams, and kept her love close to her heart as a result. Silly display and symbol of it as it was, Fennel loved her all the more for it, and kissed the shiny little pendant as she snapped the photo.


End file.
